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This is anon who posted Cravath breakdown. I think this can be attributed in part to that fact that many Yalies who summer in big law end up clerking and then going on into government or to boutiques. As a result, many don't go back to the firm they summer at, regardless of the firm. While CSM obviously expects some of this attrition to occur with SAs coming from any school given their credentials (see the fact that there are 119 summers for a firm with 483 attorneys), I have a feeling that the Yale numbers are just that much more stark. So to the extent SA positions are an investment by the firm in the future associates, investing in Yalies might have a lower ROI.

Last year there were only 4 Yalies (I think) who accepted offers at Cravath, so it's not too surprising that it has dwindled. WLRK, Davis Polk, Paul Weiss, and S&C are the places that seem to routinely have 5-10 people. Those places, along with 3-5 folks at D&P and 3-5 at Boies Schiller account for almost everyone who is in NYC. My sense is that the four places who routinely end up with 5-10 2Ls recruit much more heavily, and depend on 3Ls to direct 1Ls their way.

Totally off topic, but where the hell do firms put all these people? I work in satellite office and there were 5 of us as SAs so we all got our own offices - it was sweet. I assume they share offices, but even then, do they have like 60 empty offices just sitting idle for the summers?

Anonymous User wrote:This is anon who posted Cravath breakdown. I think this can be attributed in part to that fact that many Yalies who summer in big law end up clerking and then going on into government or to boutiques. As a result, many don't go back to the firm they summer at, regardless of the firm. While CSM obviously expects some of this attrition to occur with SAs coming from any school given their credentials (see the fact that there are 119 summers for a firm with 483 attorneys), I have a feeling that the Yale numbers are just that much more stark. So to the extent SA positions are an investment by the firm in the future associates, investing in Yalies might have a lower ROI.

But this is just pure conjecture from a 2L...

Lol. No. Low YLS numbers have nothing to do with supply and everything to do with demand. Cravath doesn't give fewer offers to Yale students, Yale students don't want to go to Cravath (and as someone correctly pointed out above, this is a self-reinforcing trend, since current 3Ls have a lot of weight there with where 2Ls go). For whatever reason, they tend to prefer S&C and DPW (my year had 16 at S&C and 13 at DPW). It may be how Cravath sells itself, or the fact that it's a real working summer.

Totally off topic, but where the hell do firms put all these people? I work in satellite office and there were 5 of us as SAs so we all got our own offices - it was sweet. I assume they share offices, but even then, do they have like 60 empty offices just sitting idle for the summers?

You definitely share offices and sometimes share office with 3 other summers. Also Cravath occupies the majority of WWP (correct me if i'm wrong but that was my impression) so there are plenty of space...

ETA: also re-- why so few Yalies at Cravath. My guess is that a part of the reason is definitely that there are much fewer Yalies who wanna come to NY Big Law, and the culture of Cravath doesn't really mesh well with most Yale students, compared to other law firms. Cravath seems pretty spartan even when it comes to their summer associate recruitment, in addition to it being a real working summer, and that's just not the vibe that I feel that most Yalies enjoy.